Tornado Watches, Warnings Issued For Chicago Area

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Powerful storms moved through the Chicago area after sundown on Tuesday, prompting a series of watches and warnings.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for most of the Chicago area and a tornado warning for some of the southwest suburbs.

The tornado warning was issued around 7:15 p.m. and covered areas around Joliet, Bolingbook and Romeoville until 7:45 p.m. The warning was then extended to 8:15 p.m. and included the towns of Crest Hill and New Lenox.

Then, a tornado warning for Elmhurst, Downers Grove and Lombard until 8:30 p.m.

The storm that prompted the warning actually passed right over the NWS office in Romeoville.

The heavy rain also led to a Flash Flood warning for Chicago, until 2 a.m. on Wednesday.

The watch covered all of the Chicagoland counties. Cook County and Lake County were added to the watch area around 6:30 p.m.

The watch remained in effect until around 9 p.m.

NWS also issued tornado warnings for the town of Cornell, near Pontiac, shortly before 5 p.m.

A Twitter user took this photo of the storm near Pontiac.

Another user posted this video of the funnel near Chenoa, south of Pontiac.

At 5:15 p.m, the weather service reported a tornado on the ground near that location.

"As i was watching it, it seemed like it was going up and going down and kinda going back and forth," Dehm said. "By the time I got close enough I headed down to the basement to be sure."

There were no reports of significant damage.

Here is the STORM STATEMENT from NWS

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO/ROMEOVILLE IL
741 PM CDT TUE AUG 18 2015

ILZ013-014-190115-
DUPAGE IL-COOK IL-
741 PM CDT TUE AUG 18 2015

...SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...

AT 740 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER
DARIEN...OR NEAR BURR RIDGE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

WINDS IN EXCESS OF 30 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. THIS
STORM HAS EXHIBITED STRONG ROTATION TO THIS POINT...AND HAS THE
POTENTIAL TO STRENGTHEN AGAIN. A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT
UNTIL 10 PM FOR THIS AREA.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
NAPERVILLE... BOLINGBROOK... DOWNERS GROVE...
ELMHURST... LOMBARD... WESTMONT...
LISLE... VILLA PARK... BROOKFIELD...
HINSDALE... WESTCHESTER... LEMONT...
LA GRANGE... SUMMIT... LYONS...
BURR RIDGE... OAK BROOK... WILLOW SPRINGS...
YORK CENTER... WOODRIDGE...

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING INTERSTATES...
I-55 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 270 AND 279.
I-88 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 131 AND 138.
I-355 NEAR MILE MARKER 12...AND BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 15 AND 23.

THIS INCLUDES... ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM.
LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE 15 MILES AWAY FROM A THUNDERSTORM. SEEK A SAFE
SHELTER INSIDE A BUILDING OR VEHICLE.

THIS STORM MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO AND
TV STATIONS...AS WELL AS LOCAL CABLE TV OUTLETS...FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

&&

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT FOR NORTHEASTERN
ILLINOIS.

LAT...LON 4180 8782 4165 8796 4168 8803 4173 8803
4173 8813 4189 8800
TIME...MOT...LOC 0040Z 217DEG 36KT 4174 8798

$$

DONOFRIO

Here is the WARNING statement from NWS

Statement as of 7:29 PM CDT on August 18, 2015
Expires 8:45 PM EDT on August 18, 2015

... A Tornado Warning remains in effect until 745 PM CDT for
northwestern Will County...

at 728 PM CDT... a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado
was located over Romeoville... moving northeast at 30 mph.

Hazard... tornado.

Source... radar indicated rotation.

Impact... flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without
shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage
to roofs... windows and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is
likely.

This tornadic thunderstorm will remain over mainly rural areas of
northwestern Will County.

This includes the following highways...
Interstate 355 near mile marker 1.
Interstate 55 between mile markers 263 and 268.

Here is the WATCH statement from NWS:

WATCH COUNTY NOTIFICATION FOR WATCH 494
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
636 PM CDT TUE AUG 18 2015

ILC031-097-190300-
/O.EXA.KLOT.TO.A.0494.000000T0000Z-150819T0300Z/

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS EXTENDED TORNADO WATCH 494 TO
INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING AREAS UNTIL 10 PM CDT THIS EVENING

IN ILLINOIS THIS WATCH INCLUDES 2 COUNTIES

IN NORTHEAST ILLINOIS

COOK LAKE IL

THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...CHICAGO AND WAUKEGAN.

$$
WATCH COUNTY NOTIFICATION FOR WATCH 494
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
636 PM CDT TUE AUG 18 2015

ILC007-037-043-053-063-075-089-091-093-099-103-105-111-141-197-
201-190300-
/O.CON.KLOT.TO.A.0494.000000T0000Z-150819T0300Z/

TORNADO WATCH 494 REMAINS VALID UNTIL 10 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR
THE FOLLOWING AREAS

IN ILLINOIS THIS WATCH INCLUDES 16 COUNTIES

IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS

LIVINGSTON

IN EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS

FORD IROQUOIS

IN NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS

BOONE DE KALB LA SALLE
LEE OGLE WINNEBAGO

IN NORTHEAST ILLINOIS

DUPAGE GRUNDY KANE
KANKAKEE KENDALL MCHENRY
WILL

THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...AURORA...BELVIDERE...DEKALB...
DIXON...JOLIET...KANKAKEE...MORRIS...OREGON...OSWEGO...OTTAWA...
PIPER CITY...PONTIAC...ROCKFORD...WATSEKA...
WHEATON AND WOODSTOCK.

$$

RODRIGUEZ